It has never been easier to setup your own blog or website where you can voice your own opinions, Today we are all publishers.
In recent years businesses have been harnessing this powerful user-generated content as reliable opinions and feedback from customers about a product or service. Ultimately this can make or break a sale. Admittedly, user-generated content isn’t new but it has exploded with the use of the Internet.
TripAdvisor is a great example of this, their website contains thousands of reviews of travel accommodation by visitors all over the World, with opinions helping people make the decision to stay somewhere or not.
But what happens if you receive negative reviews (malicious or not), can this ruin your business?
Yesterday morning on BBC breakfast there was a case where a guesthouse owner had received malicious reviews. They believed the negative reviews had significantly affected their occupancy rates.
What to do with a negative review
Seize the negative review and turn it into a positive, this is an opportunity. Nothing travels faster than a bad experience turned good. Even if you believe a review is malicious and fake, you need to be publicly address it. Remember, you have a voice too.
Firstly apologise openly for the visitor’s bad experience and that you’ll take their details from their stay and get to the bottom of the problem. Privately get their details and get to the root of the problem. Fix it and contact the customer. You may even wish to offer them a discount on a future stay. But don’t forget to go back to the original review and post a public message explaining why the problem had occurred and what steps you’ve taken so it won’t happen again.
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Its complex beast Tripadvisor, more so than any other UGC simply because its the first port of call for many travellers researching new destinations or hotels,
So while a business owners response is in some part reassuring to a user or a commenter, it does`nt hide the fact you have had a "bad" review.
As a business you first need to embrace the concept of Tripadvisor, it as quite possibly the BEST marketing tool you could deploy within your business, 80% of people trust whats written, versus ONLY around 30%
who trust what you write in your marketing copy.
Far to many property owners i speak to simply fight it, hate it, wish it would disappear, FLAWED thinking folks! you get what they sign up to in that respect, and invariably those business `s will by default be languishing in the bottom half of the ranking index for their area.
I`ve proven time and time again, if you sort you mindset out, develop a strategy around Tripadvisor, your business will gain better reviews, higher ranking places, and higher ranking places equal more sales, simple! but focus inwards firstly! and unfortunately a business that is on a "bad run" of reviews isnt usually being "stitched" up, it just simply isn't delivering what quests are expecting.